SUMMARY
1. Announcements/Events
A. UMaine Awarded Prestigious Grant from Institute of Museum and
Library Services
B. William S. Cohen Papers Forum 2010: The Promise and Problems of
Transparency
C. Town Reports: Rich Texts, Vital Resources
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1. ANNOUNCEMENTS/EVENTS
A. UMAINE AWARDED PRESTIGIOUS GRANT FROM INSTITUTE OF MUSEUM AND
LIBRARY SERVICES
Thanks to an $821,065 grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library
Services (IMLS), the University of Maine, in collaboration with eight partner
institutions, will develop a strategy for a statewide, multi-type library
program for managing, storing and preserving print collections, while expanding
access to existing digital book collections through print-on-demand (POD) and
other services. The “Maine Shared Collections Strategy” will also develop
policies essential for the management of shared print and digital collections.
Grant partners are Colby College, Bates College, Bowdoin College, Bangor Public
Library, Portland Public Library, Maine State Library, the University of
Southern Maine, and Maine InfoNet.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal
support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute's
mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to
information and ideas. The Institute works at the national level and in
coordination with state and local organizations to sustain heritage, culture,
and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional
development. To learn more about the Institute, please visit
www.imls.gov. For more information about the
grant, contact Deb Rollins at <deborah.rollins@umit.maine.edu>
or call 581-1659.

B. WILLIAM S. COHEN PAPERS FORUM 2010: THE PROMISE AND PROBLEMS OF
TRANSPARENCY
Join us Friday, November 12, at UMaine’s Wells Conference Center for the 2010
Cohen Papers Forum. The free, day-long program will begin with a keynote
presentation by Cary Coglianese, Deputy Dean and Political Science Professor at
the University of Pennsylvania Law School and former chair of the nonpartisan
Task Force on Transparency and Public Participation for OMB Watch. From there,
featured speakers include Amanda Wood, Director of Governmental Affairs in the
Washington office of Senator Collins; Kelly Hokkanen, General Manager of InforME/Maine.gov;
Tarren Bragdon, CEO of the Maine Heritage Policy Center; and several others.
The full agenda and registration information can be found at <http://www.library.umaine.edu/cohen/transparency/event_info.htm>
or by calling 581-2665.
Support for the event has been provided by The Bangor Daily News, the Max Kagan
Family Foundation, the Maine Humanities Council, and the UMaine College of
Liberal Arts and Sciences.

C. TOWN REPORTS: RICH TEXTS, VITAL RESOURCES
Is your family name in the town report? Did it appear there in 1898? What did
this mean? Do you still think of the annual reports prepared by towns in Maine
as dull bureaucratic documents detailing arcane activities of municipal
governments, of little interest to anyone except local residents? This view will
be challenged in a program sponsored by the Friends of Fogler Library entitled
"Town Reports: Rich Texts, Vital Resources," held in the Special Collections
Reading Room of Fogler Library on Monday, November 15, at 3:00 p.m. Librarians
Mel Johnson and Richard Hollinger will demonstrate that town reports are unique
and valuable resources for local history and genealogy, and are essential
sources for research on regional and state history as well, containing
information about social history often available nowhere else.

The program will also feature Maine Town Reports Online, where digitized
historical reports from a number of Maine towns can be viewed. This site is a
collaborative project between Fogler Library, the Maine State Library and
several municipalities and historical societies. This event is free and open to
the public. Refreshments will be served. For more information contact Gretchen
Gfeller at <gretchen.gfeller@umit.maine.edu>
or call 581-1696.